Where are you from and what do you enjoy most about your hometown?
I am originally from the Bay Area, CA, but my parents moved to Sacramento CA when I was young, and then I moved back to the bay for undergrad and lived there for 6 years until I came to Boston. The food and the natural beauty of the CA coastline are my favorite parts for sure. The restaurants are excellent and there’s so much variety, and the fresh produce from local groceries and farmers markets is unparalleled.
What is your research focused on?
My research is focused on understanding how angiogenesis (the process of new blood vessel growth) occurs in our fat tissue after adrenergic stimuli such as cold exposure cause or contribute to the generation of beige fat cells, which are more metabolically active than the normal fat cells that we typically think about. The blood vessels that surround each cell are intrinsically important to cell function, but there’s a lot that we don’t know about what causes them to grow and how fat cells communicate to the vasculature.
What is your favorite part of your research?
I currently am doing a lot of whole-tissue microscopy and imaging, and creating pretty pictures is really satisfying. I also appreciate that my work contributes to the notion that the adipose is *way* more than just a storage organ—it is involved in everyday things that we do such as eating, exercising, and even sleeping. I have a deep personal interest in food and nutrition, and I enjoy bridging my personal interest in these topics with my specific research project and general field of study.
How do you relax when you’re not working?
I love baking, mainly sourdough bread, but am getting more into pastry. I also enjoy cooking and I have a recent goal to try to cook with ingredients I’ve never used before. I fervently explore the local restaurant/bakery scene and like to try new foods. Aside from all things food, I enjoy salsa dancing with friends, exercising, reading (mainly fiction), playing the piano, watching movies, and am trying to learn Spanish.
Tell us about an activity outside of lab you’re involved in and why it’s important to you
I serve on the leadership teams of the Harvard Graduate Women in Science and Engineering, and the Boston chapter of Nucleate, a student organization that aids in biotech company acceleration. In both of these roles, I work initiatives that promote the advancement of women in science. I also volunteer to mentor 6th-12th grade students and judge projects as part of the Massachusetts science fair program. Science fairs were my first exposure to science, and it’s important to me that kids are getting encouragement and support in STEM from an early age.
